A street librarian's quest to bring books to everyone | Storybook Maze (re-release)

**Elise Hu** (0:04)
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu.
If you walked into my house, you would know how much I love reading. There are books everywhere, in every room, and my kids all have library cards. Librarian Storybook Maze also loves books and reading. As a kid, she would collect books and run a library of her own with the books she kept under her bed with a card for checkout dates in the back, just like from an actual library. But she knows how lucky she was to have access to so many books.

**Storybook Maze** (0:38)
As a public librarian, I quickly realized that the kids that I saw coming into the library weren't the same ones I was reading to out on my front stoop.

**Elise Hu** (0:47)
In her talk from 2024, Storybook shares why she became what she calls a radical street librarian, bringing books to the places where kids already are. Stoops, street corners, corner stores, community events.

**Storybook Maze** (0:59)
As a radical street librarian, I'm making books appear in everyday places in extraordinary ways. I install free public book vending machines, host street corner story times, and pop up on the block with free bookstores. So kids who don't have McDonald's money don't have to worry about having book fair money.
I deeply believe in books by any means necessary.

**Elise Hu** (1:23)
Storybook lays out how she's breaking down the barriers between kids and books, from library finds and transportation to what she calls book deserts, places where reading materials are scarce or hard to access. She reminds us that loving books often starts with something very simple, having one close enough to pick up. That's coming up right after a short break.
And now, our TED Talk of the day.

**Storybook Maze** (1:55)
It all started on a stoop. One of those summer days in Baltimore where it was too hot to be inside with no AC, and it seemed like the heat had pushed the entire neighborhood out into their front stoops. I grabbed a book and started reading to my nieces. After a few pages, other little heads started popping up on the other side of the book. So of course, I invited the neighborhood kids to join us. When I was finished reading, the kids didn't want story time to stop. They asked me to read another book and then another one. After a few rounds, I had had enough. So I said, you guys can read a book at home.
We don't have any books at home, was their overwhelming response.
It was a harsh reminder that there are children who don't have a single book at home. So what did I do about it? I started reading to the neighborhood kids every weekend. I called it Stoop Story Time and the process inspired me to begin working in the public library. However, as a public librarian, I quickly realized that the kids that I saw coming into the library weren't the same ones I was reading to out on my front stoop. I began researching and learned about library barriers and something called book deserts. A book desert is an area or a community with limited access to books and reading materials.
I slowly realized that I wasn't gonna meet my neighbors who needed most inside libraries' walls. So I quit my job and took to the streets becoming a radical street librarian. When I was putting this talk together, Ted asked me, what exactly is a radical street librarian? I was like, well, I certainly made it up a few years ago. But it's a term I use to refer to anyone doing work to increase literary access outside of traditional settings. As a radical street librarian, I'm making books appear in everyday places in extraordinary ways. I install free public book vending machines, host street corner story times, and pop up on the block with free bookstores, so kids who don't have McDonald's money don't have to worry about having book fair money.
I deeply believe in books by any means necessary. So whether at a community basketball game, corner store, beauty supply, or front stoop, I utilize my expertise as a librarian to curate collections that reflect the kids reading them. This means books with characters that look like them, talk like them, go to the same places, speak the same languages. Book deserts are often found in economically disadvantaged or rural areas where bookstores and libraries are scarce. In higher income communities, there are more books per child than in low income communities. For example, in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill, a study found that there were about 13 books for every child. While in high poverty communities of the same city, it found up to 300 children could share one book.